Frank is Frank Langella, and the voice of the robot is Peter Sarsgaard in this comedy-drama about family, friendship, thievery, and Alzheimer’s. Also, it’s set in the near future, when cars can drive themselves, libraries are getting rid of books, and all phones are videophones, which 2001: A Space Odessey said would happen in 2001 and Back to The Future Part II said would happen around now. But a dutiful son (James Marsden) and a flaky daughter (Liv Tyler) are still the same. Dad’s having trouble taking care of himself, so dutiful son brings the latest technology. It looks boxy, not too human, and Sarsgaard sounds like a less-sinister version of 2001’s Hal.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” says the machine. “How do you know?” Frank answers, but like most people eventually adapts to the idea of having a machine do things for him. Things like theft, his old career. The notion of a buddy comedy with a friendly robot suggests the potential of being a little too cute, like that 1980s movie Short Circuit, but this is just the right amount of cute. It made me think about artificial intelligence, but at the same time it’s a mostly fun movie for those who aren’t into sci-fi. The ending is a reminder that, at bottom, all stories told by humans are human stories.
IMDb link
viewed 8/13/12 7:30 pm at World Cafe Live and reviewed 8/24/12 and 8/27/12
Showing posts with label burglary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burglary. Show all posts
Friday, August 24, 2012
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Stone of Destiny (***)
In 1950, Glasgow University student Ian Hamilton (Charlie Cox), hoping to stir up Scottish nationalism, led an effort to steal the venerated titular stone from Westminster Abbey in London. Hamilton’s account of the adventure is the basis for this straightforward accounting of the event.
Writer-director Charles Martin Smith (an American-born Canadian) doesn’t attempt to depict the history of Scottish nationalism, or the reasons for it. Instead, this is simply a lightly comic rendering of an interesting footnote in the history of a movement that continues to have force today. Robert Carlyle plays the university head who inspired Hamilton.
IMDB link
viewed at Prince (Philadelphia Film Festival) and reviewed 3/31/09
Writer-director Charles Martin Smith (an American-born Canadian) doesn’t attempt to depict the history of Scottish nationalism, or the reasons for it. Instead, this is simply a lightly comic rendering of an interesting footnote in the history of a movement that continues to have force today. Robert Carlyle plays the university head who inspired Hamilton.
IMDB link
viewed at Prince (Philadelphia Film Festival) and reviewed 3/31/09
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